Monday, November 16th served as the start to an altered routine for students at Park High School. For the first time during the 2020-21 school year, secondary school education was proceeding strictly online. Those who were previously following the hybrid learning model returned to full-time distance learning. In addition, all students needed to adjust their agendas in order to fit live streamed classes into their daily lives. Not to mention, many students were victims of the infamous technical difficulties.

For some of these teenagers, this week meant reduced interaction with students and staff, posing as extremely difficult. For others, it meant a stressful five days of being booted out of video calls and not being able to access assignments. Due to the obstacles that most Park High School students experienced throughout this week, nobody in Cottage Grove would have expected something like what occurred next to happen.

On Friday November 20th, a social media post was uploaded onto Park High School’s Student Council Instagram page: From the moment this post went up, Instagram users witnessed a deluge of Thanksgiving led by Cottage Grove’s teens. They were sharing on their platforms what they were thankful for and “tagging” their classmates to do the same. “I said I was grateful for my friends and family,” one girl named Camryn informed The Cottage Grove Journal.

Even after a strenuous week was pressed on these children, they still decided to focus on what made them fortunate. Why? Another student by the name of Hope spoke on behalf of all of the contributors, “I think like everyone else right now we need to be reminded of the things that do bring us joy because that’s what’s going to get us through these hard times. Any bit of hope is so precious right now and deserves to be shared.”

In summary, a week that began as demanding and heavy for students, was wrapped up with a night of thanks.

An additional participant of the #PHSTHANKFUL Instagram Challenge expressed in an interview, “I am most grateful for my friends and family, because of them, during this hard time I am motivated to continuously work hard and reach my goals with their help. They push me to be the best version of myself every day. I truly believe I wouldn’t be the person I am today without them.”

That participant, Lydia Best, is also the student who initiated Friday night’s phenomenon. She is the publicist of the Park High School Student Council. “I am in charge of social media…I create and design all of the Instagram posts.”

According to Lydia, the Student Council meets virtually to brainstorm ways to promote school spirit in their school. Because in person dress up days and pep rallies are deemed as impossible due to COVID-19 restrictions, these brainstorming sessions are vital. Lydia continues, “…we had to get creative with ways for students to get involved.”

The #PHSTHANKFUL Instagram Challenge served as the Student Council’s first attempt at adapting to the year’s limitations. Also, Lydia implied that there were three other goals in which the PHS Student Council was hoping to achieve with the challenge “…one, to express our gratitude to those we are thankful for, two, to help advertise our new account, and three, to get students involved in our school life.”

Observers of this outpour of thanks would most likely conclude that the Park High School Student Council satisfied all three of these goals. Also, the challenge was seen as a “success” to their publicist! Which leaves Cottage Grove residents to ask, Will the Student Council settle with this single victory against social isolation or will we be seeing more of them this school year?

There is no need for readers to wonder any longer. Lydia gave The Cottage Grove Journal insight on future plans come December that are bound to intrigue fans of the holiday season. “We are also planning to do a Christmas themed challenge and polls on our [Instagram] stories.”

To stay in-the-know of the marvelous ways in which this group is boosting Park Pride and encouraging student connections during COVID-19, readers can head to Instagram and follow @phsstudco!